Page 3 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

“And he wants to stay?” Kimba asked. “He wants to remain here in the dragon realm and … what? Make a life with you? Do you two plan on building a nice ranch-style house complete with a white picket fence and front porch swing? Perhaps raise a nest of hatchlings while you're at it?”

“Humans don’t have hatchlings.” Rory raised a brow at Kimba.

The dragon rolled her eyes, which Rory might have found humorous if she wasn’t so busy trying to deflect the barrage of truth arrows the beast was slinging directly into her innermost being.

Kimba continued as if Rory hadn’t spoken. “Take a glance around, Rory. Do you see any other humans? Aston is an air elementalist. He is part of the human Tempest Academy. He has friends there that I’m sure he cares about. Friends who, I might add, are probably searching for him at this very moment. Would you ask him to abandon all that without so much as a goodbye to his old life?”

Rory began to sputter. “I … uh … I mean…”

“Child, I love you, but you don’t have a track record of making the best choices. One need only look so far as your recent association with Danni.”

“You don’t understand—”

“A woman who exudes evil…”

“But she—” Rory began.

“A woman who is more suited to be the lord of the underworld’s bride than to be anyone’s mother.”

“You don’t understa—”

“And you gave her your loyalty blindly, without so much as a question as to why your mother—a woman you cannot remember raising you before the age of ten, mind you—could be so utterly and completely evil.”

“To be fair,” Rory said quickly, before Kimba could continue, “how the hell was I supposed to know she wasn’t my mother? Believe it or not, humans can’tsmellblood relations like dragons can.” She threw her hands up in the air. This was not the first time they’d had this argument. “And they don’t exactly have DNA vending machines on every street corner. I’ve been with her since I was ten years old, Kimba. She was all I knew.” Rory couldn’t remember her early childhood. All she could ever remember was Danni and the witches, and the earliest memory she had was from age ten. She’d never questioned Danni about why that was. Okay, looking back, perhaps that wasn’t the most intelligent of decisions. But things were always sort of foggy when she tried to remember her distant past. Rory had just assumed she’d somehow blocked out her early childhood or that she had a poor memory. If she were being honest with herself, Rory would have to admit that, as she’d grown older, there had been times she’d inwardly questioned whether Danniwasactually her mother. Over the years, there had been clues.

For one, Rory felt no connection with Danni. If Dannihadbeen her mother, wouldn’t she have felt something that tied them together? Even if Rory had been adopted, wouldn’t there have been some sort of bond? But other than a deep need for the perpetually critical woman’s approval, Rory felt nothing. Then, there’d been a conversation she’d overheard between Danni and one of the older witches of the coven. Danni had said something about making certain all Rory’s medical records were destroyed. Why on earth would her medical records need to be destroyed?

But even with all the questions, Rory hadn’t wanted to doubt her relationship with Danni. Because if she wasn’t Danni’s daughter, then who the hell was she?

“I know,” Kimba said, her voice gentler. “And I understand why you want to stay here, where you’re safe from the outside world, safe from anyone who might do you harm. But you don’t belong here, Rory. I’m not saying you can’t come to visit.” Kimba leaned her big head forward and pressed the tip of her nose to Rory’s stomach. “But you’re human. You need to be around other humans.”

“I can’t trust them.” Rory’s hands clenched at her sides. “I lived with a coven of witches. They summoned demons and worked with dark elementals. I don’t exactly have an impressive track record with humans. And if Danni isn’t my mother, then what happened to my birth mother? Where is she? Why didn’t she want me?” It was a question Rory tried not to ask because it made her feel vulnerable and lonely.

“You don’t know that she didn’t want you,” Kimba said. “There are so many reasons that could have caused you to end up in Danni’s clutches, reasons beyond your birth mother’s control. You’ve got to let go of that bitterness. It’s going to eat you alive from the inside out and blind you to anything good you could have in your life.”

Rory knew Kimba was right. Darkness had been growing inside of Rory since she turned sixteen. It wasn’t simply the impending doom of puberty and the monthly visitor that came with it.It was more than hormones, or at least she felt it had to be. She didn’t know if there was some sort of witchy magic behind that day, but after her birthday, her relationship with Danni had deteriorated in a hurry.

Rory had never been able to please Danni. Previously, Danni had merely expressed her continual disappointment. Before her sweet sixteen—which should never be called sweet to begin with because no female at the age of any number followed with “teen” is ever sweet—their relationship had been pretty typical of any mother and daughter from what Rory could tell just by watching her friends. They argued about her hair, her clothes, what to eat, and what not to eat. Danni fussed because Rory talked on the phone too long. She griped because Rory left clothes strewn about her bedroom, though she still didn’t understand why that bothered Danni, as it wasn’therbedroom. They argued about getting up too late and not going to bed earlier enough. Pretty much all the typical parent child disagreements since the beginning of time.

But after sixteen, it seemed as if Rory’s very existence was a personal affront to the high priestess. No matter what Rory did, it was never good enough. And simple disappointment was just the beginning. It felt to Rory that Danni was convinced Rory went out of her way to make sure to ruin anything Danni might otherwise enjoy. No matter how hard Rory tried, she could have tried harder according to Danni. Rory couldn’t even stand to think of her in terms of “her mother,” because even if the woman had adopted Rory, she’d never been a mother to her.

“Aren’t you even a little curious about living in the world, away from witches and demons? Five of my brethren said they took care of every witch in the Devil’s Heart forest. You’re free, Rory. You have a new start, and you don’t have to do it alone.” Kimba’s voice was full of compassion. By the way Kimba treated her, it seemed like they’d been friends for years, versus only a few months. “Kindred spirits,” Kimba had said. An instant connection that couldn’t be explained.

“I need to get back to Aston,” Rory said, ignoring the question. The ache to be with him was getting worse.Ugh, that damnable ache!She ground her teeth. Perhaps instead of going straight to him, she’d make a quick detour, just to prove she could. She wasn’t beholden to the pull between them. Although she’d been the one who had wanted to make sure he couldn’t leave her with the bond completed, she’d never considered that it meant she couldn’t leave him either. She was glad she wouldn’t be alone any longer. But if she’d thought about that beforehand and known that being without Aston would be so painful, both emotionally and physically, she might have reconsidered.

“He’s been hanging out with Zephyr?” Kimba asked.

“Yep,” Rory replied. “One thing is for sure: Aston is not bored.” At least Rory didn’t think he was. She couldn’t say for sure, considering they didn’t really talk much. “My mate is a brainiac and loves to absorb information. You dragons fascinate him. Though he won’t go near Rhox, since … you know … he ate Aston’s friend. Which, I suppose, is understandable.”

Kimba snorted, her large snout bouncing a bit. “You think?”

Rory walked over to her friend and reached up. Kimba leaned to the side and turned her head, giving Rory a gentle lift until the woman was seated on the dragon’s back. “I think we need to take a break from one another,” Rory said. “You’re becoming entirely too snarky. There’s only room for one snarky chick in this relationship.”

Kimba rose to her feet and spread out her massive wings. “You do remember I can flip over and let you fall right out of the sky, right?”

“See?” Rory huffed. “Snarky. Not cool, dragon, not cool.”

With a powerful push of her hind legs, Kimba launched her body into the sky. Rory closed her eyes as the wind rushed against her face and through her hair. She loved to fly with Kimba. When they were in the air with the world far below them, Rory felt as if nothing could touch her. There were no witches, demons, or dark elementals. The existence of a mother out there somewhere, living her life without Rory in it, wasn’t a possibility. Flying, the only things that existed were Kimba, Rory, and the endless sky. Simple.Except now you have a mate, genius, her inner voice so kindly reminded her. No matter how high or how long they flew, they always had to go back down. Rory had to return to the earth, to her mate, and to an uncertain future.

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